490 FARM MANAGEMENT. 



and other land costs. In the wheat account, interest is, 

 therefore, charged on all other costs, except the cost of land 

 and building rent. If an account does not have a very 

 large investment, the interest charge may be omitted, as 

 was done on several of the accounts. 



It is a little less bother and may be as well to charge 

 interest to crops on all costs. This makes them pay in- 

 terest on the use of buildings and land or really makes them 

 pay rent in the middle of the year. Animals that give 

 returns daily, as cows or work animals, do not need to pay 

 interest on costs, but should pay interest on the average 

 inventory. They pay for labor and feed as they get it. 



The balance of the interest account should be a fair 

 rate of interest on the total amount of money that the 

 farmer has invested in the business. The average of 

 the present worth at the beginning and end of the year 

 usually represents the average investment. 



298. General expense. Such headings as general 

 expense must be used very cautiously on a farm. It is 

 nearly always possible to scatter the charges to different 

 accounts as they occur. A general expense account, if 

 kept, should be kept very small. 



299. Accounts of convenience. It is very often de- 

 sirable to keep a separate account of some item that is 

 later to be charged to several places. If fertilizer is bought 

 for several crops, it may be convenient to keep an account 

 with fertilizers and charge it to the various crops. Or a 

 general supply account may be carried that will include 

 any such items. In the set of accounts given, an account 

 was kept with improvements to see what the new barns cost. 

 When done, the total was charged to the farm. If the 

 charges had been taken direct to the farm account, it would 

 have been considerable work to pick out the barn charges. 



